HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1917-1-11, Page 6MARKING GRAVES
OFOFDEAD HEROES. first hasty record of the internment
]� was placed.
A few days ago a woman in deep
mourning visited ono of'the French
SYSTEM SOLVES PROBLEM AND cemeteries with a handful of white
flowers. She was arranging these on
one of the French graves when one
of the usual little: bareheaded proces-
sions with an English chaplain in
front, passed by. On the stretcher
was a body sewn up in a brown army
blanket, a big Union Jack lying over
it. The woman rose and shyly, with
grave, at the foot of its Wooden cl'oaa,
there is still stuck in the earth, neck
downward, the bottle in which the
RELIEVES BEREAVED.
Last (testing Places of British Soldiers
Who Have Fallen on the
Battlefields.
In keeping with all other phases of some of the flowers still in her hand,
the war, order has come a last in fell in at the rear of the procession.
the Bare of the dead.' Where all was As the chaplain was reading dust
• topsy-tervy two years ago in the first• to dust," and "ashes to ashes," the
pell-mell rush to battle, and where little French woman was kneeling on
there was little time to bury men the ground, The service. over, and
even where they fell, the British now the rest turning away, she came close
have evolved an organization and a to the grave, dropped the white flow-
• system of dealing with this ever- ers in, and returned to the other
growing problem which will at least
relieve the bereaved at home of the
added torment and anxiety of the un-
known grave.
At the beginning of the war men
were buried near the trenches only
to have their graves blown away by The United Press correspondent at
exploding shells the very next day
But many remained, and some have 'the headquarters of the French
been identified as the allies have armies uncovers another interesting
view of the death struggle before Ver-
dun in the following:
As a result of the Crown Prince's
protracted and costly assault on Ver-
dun, the Meuse in the immediate
Where there was hard fighting in vicinity could to -day very consistently
France and Belgium, the eye of the change its name into that of "The
River of the Bridges." Theconstrue-
traveller along the roads to -day is
struck by many low'crosses sticking the of these bridges is another of
out of the round in the fields, in the veritable miracles of genius and
cottage gardens, in corners of farm-' organization which the French army
yards and orchards, even on the performed to save Verdun. Several
roadside strips of grass. Where the of the French rivers, and notably the
Meuse and the Somme, consist of
ground has changed hands a good ; an endless chain of marshes, connect -
deal in the course of the war one ed bya number of small streams ex-
cau see, within a few hundred yards tendng over the entire valley for a
of each other, the gabled and eaved 'width of never less than a mile and
cross of the Germans, the "Fier ruht ; from this to a mile and a half and
in Cott" and a name painted whits two miles. Each one of the Verdun
on a dark background; the beaded. bridges, therefore, instead of being a
wiry lr, cath of the French with flimsy structure of a few hundred feet
Requtescat or "Mort pour la France, !in length, is oblige! to span the en -
and the plain lined cross of the Eng -;tire valley of the le:'ase.
lish, white or light brown, or just un , Half of the miracle of these bridges
painted wood, "In loving memory," of .
one or more officers and men. rs found in the almost incredible cir-
cumstances and conditions in which
Buried in "No Man's Land." !their construction took place. The
object aimed at by the Crown Prince
The very position of some of}'in attacking on both sides of the
these isolated memorials is eloquent. Meuse was to cut the French army
Near Fricourt, on what used to bel in two by a wide marshy river that
"No Man's Land," until the English i was utterly impassable except over
won it the past summer, a number i the two or three bridges then in exis-
of English crosses stand to the mem-Itence. This was one of the defects in
ory of unknown French soldiers. This rthe defence of Verdun which the
was part of the line turned over to the {French at once set themselves to re -
English by the French, "We leave me -y. The first bridge was built in
you our trenches and our dead," they reasonable tranquility, with the re -
said, When the English offensive be- suit that the army of French engi-
gan last July and the first line Ger- neers employed on it completed their
man trenches were carried by storm,, task in just 15 days. The sudden sp-
it was one of the first cares of the pearance of this structure, however,
British Tommies to bury the bodies of revealed to the Germans what the
their French comrades, some having French were doing, and from that
lain in the fireswept zone since late in moment every foot of the Meuse,
the winter. north and south of Verdun was kept
To some officers the idea of being under a terrific bombardment. Cott -
buried where they fall, and have pled with this unending hail of shells
there erected even the modest little csnie also the frequent inundations
memorial of a roughly hewn cross, to which the Meuse issubject, espe-
• is an honor greater than the shelter cielly in the spring. Day after day
of Westminster Abbey. A few such spans of the bridge would be washed
graves, and some part of the trenches out before they could be anchored
near them, probably will be preserv-
ed forever by village communes or
private owners of land.
But as the war has lingered, and
there still is much stubborn fighting
ahead—some say for years the care
of the dead has become a most im- the entire bridge had been completed
portant branch of war work—import- and was in use. Yet never for an
ant alike in sentiment and sanitation. instant did the French engineers re -
The British have organized a Commis- linquish their work. The bridges ero-
sion of Graves Registration and In- mine to remain for a long time as a
quiries, and under its direction regis-'lasting tribute and monument to the
[ration units and sections have been genius and perseverance of the French
'sent to the front, and back of the ' arrayengineers.
front. Much of the work is done by ! f
non-combatants, but many of their !
tasks must•.be carried out under fire l CAPTURE DYE TRADE.
and some have been killed and others I -.--
wounded, !British Dye Makers heap Harvest
Graves Identified. I From War.
graves empty handed,
THE RIVER OF THE BRIDGES.
Some of the Miracl- es - Performed to
Save Verdun.
fought their way slowly back over
part of the ground once occupied by
the Germans.
Many Low Crosses.
firmly enough to ensure their perma-
nency; bursting shells likewise car-
ried away span after span, sometimes
just at the moment of completion,
sometimes while the work was still
progressing, and sometimes long after
When an officer or man is killed at
the front, or dies of wounds, his bur-
ial is now at once reported to the reg-
istration units. If killed in action he
May still be buried in the old way
somewhere near the trench. If so,
the chaplain or officer who buries
him, Deports the position of the grave,
which, as soon as possible, is marked.
with a durable :crofts and an identifica-
tion plate stamped in aluminum. But
this mode is becoming much less com-
mon, The army has been quick to
realize the desirability of burying its
•'dosd in the nearest of the 800 or more
recognized cemeteries behind the line,
The bodies are carried back by road
or light railway to one of the little
wooden, iron . or canvas mortuaries
which the registration units have set
up lathe cemeteries, There is noth-
ing perfunctory about the funerals.
Everything is done as tenderly and
reverently as if the dead were in an
English cbuchyard.
Some of the cemeteries are groat
extensions of little village graveyards,
Some were begun by special corps or
divisions, which wished to bury their
dead all together. In one is found'aep-
arate plots, each with its special en-
trance, for Gurkhas, Sikhs and Pun
jabs. Under the great trees of .an-
othee, where many of those who fell
at Festuhert lie, some Indian soldiers
have followed the custom of their
country tied built brick tombs of ex-
traordinary massiveness.
Died at They Ridge.
At Villers anx Bois the French bur-
ied 2,4,t)0 of those who were killed in
yvinning the Vimy Ridge, On each
Many a struggling company has
been set on its legs by the war, but
there is perhaps no more remarkable
instance than that of Levinstein,_Lim-
ited, the dye and color manufacturers
of Blackley, Manchester, says the
London Chronicle. This company was
formed in 1895, with a capital of
£90,000.
Not by any stretch of imagination
could the company's pre-war record be
tailed successful. The disappearance
of German competition, however,
brought about a great change, and for
the year ended June 30, 1915, the com-
pany made a net profit, after meeting
all charges, including £21,700 for de-
preciation and wiping out the goodwill
and patent items in the balance sheet,
of £80,000. Fourteen and a half years'
arrears of preference dividend were
discharged, and 30 per cent. was paid
on the ordinary share capital.
There has been delay over the issue
of the accounts for 1915-191.3 owing to
difficulties with the authorities over
the amount of crews Profits tax pay-
able by the company. But the profits
are believed to have been prodigious.
Already, ordinary eharehelders have
received 90 par cent, in dividend in no-
spect of the 1915-16 operations, and a
further distribution is eviriently ex-
pected when the accounts make their
appearance for the 210 ordinary
shares, which at the outhreak of war
stood at a very low figure, and, in-
deed, were practically unsaleable, aro
noW quoted in Manchester at £75
apiece!
It is Penned %o5, a man to breathe
eighteen times iC minute.
HUN PROPHET HEDGES:
Major Moraht, Military Expert, Busy
Changing Yiewttontts.
Major Moraht, the military expert
of the Berliner Tageblatt, has not
been much in, evidence lately, s:rye
the London Chronicle. About three
months ago he declared that the pos-
session of Verdun was a life and
death affair for the German armies in
the west. Nearly two years ago he
said the same thing about Calais,
Once a lortnigltt since the. Somme of-
fensive began be declares that the
British and French advance has fiz-
zled out. Be rias prophesied about
Egypt, about the Caucasus, about
Saloniki, and none of his prophecies
have been fulfilled. Merely as a
prophet he is not worth his wages. '
He has now taken to lecturing,
after excursions to the eastern and
western fronts, and the first fruits
of his tour he presented to Hamburg
in the shape of a lecture on "Our Vic-
torious War of Defence," He spoke,
of the aims and objects of Germany's
enemies, pointing out that these
aims and objects have never varied
from the beginning of the war, He
expressed :astonishment at this, "for
these aims have not yet been at-
tained, nor are they likely to be." It
is the evident impossibility of Ger
many's enemies realizing their aims.
which has filled the German nation
with "the healthy feeling" that their
enemies really desire peace.
Major Moraht naturally devotes
most of his remarks to the campaign
against Rumania, and compares the
number of square miles of Rumanian
territory occupied by the Central mon-
archies with that ,von from Germany
on the Somme and Andre. As to the
ultimate destiny of Rumania Moraht
has no doubts, but with regard to the
Somme he thinks that "even if Be-
'
paume and Peronne are lost we can
maintain our front intact." He tells
his Hamburg audience that they are
to wait "until the time comes," and
that then "the western front will as-
sume an entirely different shape." It
is safe soothsaying with which all of
us may agree.
About Italy Major Moraht is doubt-
ful. He does not like the advance in
the Carso, and asserts that "it will
only continue until Austria-Hungary
is able to resume the offensive."
"There is no force ready to give Italy
the knock -out blow."
The lecturer is very confident about
the German reserves. "Our youth,
which has not been put too early into
service, constitutes a powerful re-
serve. It is important when discussing
peace to show our enemies that we
have a reserve army ready to strike."
In conclusion, he rejoices at the fail-
ure of England's starvation war, and
hopes that before long a German vic-
tory will secure what he calls a Ger-
man peace.
'1—
BRITAIN IN THE SOUDAN.
Populationlfave Proved More .Loyal
Than Ever.
In spite of frequent reports that the
native population of Egypt and the
Soudan are on the point of rising,
against their British rulers, they have
proved themselves more loyal than
ever, says Herbert Adam Gibbons,
author of "The New Map of Europe,"
who recently spent some time in the
various North African countries
gathering material for his new book.
Mr. Gibbons describes, in confirmation
of this opinion, a visit which he paid
to Omdurman on the occasion of the
prophet's birthday. His host was Sir
Reginald Wingate, Kitchener's suc-
cessor as Sirdar of the Soudan.
"When Sir Reginald explained to the
sheiks who I was and what I had come
for," writes Mr. Gibbons, "they nod-
ded their heads with satisfaction and
laughed.
"'Tell him to write what he sees,'
they declared, 'We are glad that he
came to our feast, for he can give
London a good report of us.'
"The last tent we visited was the
most important, and around it were
gathered all the people of Omdurman
and of the tribes who had come into
the city for the festivities. Thousands
of white -robed howling dervishes
were dancing and barking, and had
reached the point of frenzy. We sat
sipping coffee in the midst of a crowd
of sixty thousand Moslems who had
been followers of the Mandi and be-
lievers in tbs Khalifa. The Sirdar's
guard of honor was four mounted
Soudanese lancers. There were no
troops, Egyptian or British. None of
our party was armed. The people of
Omdurman, at the moment of the
greatest religious exaltation of the
year, had in their power the Govern-
or-General and the chief representa-
tives of British military and civil au-
thority in the Soudan.
"I know the'feolirrg of Moslem fan-
aticism in an Oriental crowd, I have
experienced it more than once when I
knew that I was facing death, That
feeling was not here. There was real
love for the Sirdar, aria no hostility
in the rest of iia.
"As we were leaving the tent, one
of the ttmhaned dervish chieftains
who had followed the Sirdar to the
entrance, put his left hand on MY
shoulder as be shook hands and said:
"'I hope you have enjoyed the feast
at Omdurman and will come again.'
"'Wlro is that sheik?' I asked Sir
Reginald.
"Ono of the Mandi's.sons," he an-
swered,"
Russia is over forty time, the nie
Of Germany',
CANADIAN CAMPS GROWING.
Spreading .1iii Over England—Won-
derful Organization.
The Canadian army is gradually
spreading itself over the face of Eng-
land. 'The comparatively small force
which made history at Salisbury 'has
grown into a tremendous army. On
every street of every city in the
United Kingdom and along the high
ways throughout all parts of the
country soldiers of the Dominion are
to be seen. •
There are now three great training
Camps' in England; the training divi-
sion at Shorneliffe, which is well
known to the people of Canada; the
training area at Bramshott, which we
have occupied for over a year, and
new command at Brighton, which has
just recently been established. Con-
cerning the latter, although it is
probably aur finest camp, the people
in Canada know very little, The
Brightoncommand consists of four
main camps, located at Crowborough,
Hastings, Shoreham and Seaford.
The average person in Canada does
not realize what it means to handle
troops in camps which, compared with
Camp Borden, aro twice its size. Oc-
easionally 5,000 or 10,000 people are
seen gathered at some function, but
there are very few places in the Do-
minion that can muster a crowd of
these proportions. If one stops to
think, it will be readily realized that
to handle expeditiously and without
confusion an army of this size per-
fect system is required. Asa matter
of fact, it is no small task to keep
a body of men of this size in a perfect
state of discipline and health in or-
dinary camp routine.
The capacity for work of head-
quarters staff can be -judged from the
fact that they average eleven hours a
day for seven days a week, and are
frequently called up at night when
circumstances demand.
BATTLES IN AIR.
Aviator Dead, But Plane Sailed On As
Usual,
Replete with dramatic incidents are
the reports just published of the late
Captain Boelke, the famous German
aviator, who brought down forty aero-
planes during his service ended by his
death on October 29.
One of the most striking incidents
is included in an Overseas Agency
summary as follows:
"I wondered at the stubbornness of
the enemy," wrote Boelke, "consider-
ing that he must have been finished a
long time ago; but Ise continfied to
circle in the same fashion. Reason
told me the man must be dead and
that the machine was being maintain-
ed in its right position only by the
rubber, hand at the helm. Therefore
I approached closely and saw the oc-
cupant of the machine leaning to-
ward the right side, dead. The aero-
plane bore the number 7495. The hor-
rible picture left me unshaken. I let
the man alone and attacked the next
one."
An example of chivalry reported in
Boelke's book is to the effect that
after having encountered an adver-
sary Boelke made several,"rounds of
honor" over the place where bis en-
emy had fallen. "A round of honor"
among aviators Is a mark of courtesy
to a fallen brave enemy. Boelke him-
self decorated the place where the
enemy aviator had been buried with
military honors 'with a bunch of red,
white and blue flowers. One of
Boelke's most . remarkable qualities
was bis respect for an enerny and he
repeatedly need phrases like the fol-
lowing:
"A British aviator reams flew home
at a height of 100 meters above our
trencbes. He was a smart chap. This
is not likely to be done by another."
"TRANSPORTATION ROMANCE.
How Great Engineering Problems Are
Mustered
The transportation romance of the
450 -mile mountain front of the Italian
army, set down in cold, hard figures,
reads thus: 2,248 miles of railroads
built or repaired, 590 miles of new
reilroad built, 150 miles of 'air line
cables stretched for the teleferica sys-
tem, 80,000 miles of telephone wire'
put up, 10,000 new troop, hospital, and
freight buildings erected; 200 miles
of narrow-gauge railroad laid in or
behind the trenches, 110 new bridges
thrown across rivers and precipices to
;accommodate 2,040 muse of operating
road.
The work is credited to 120 civil
' engineers of the Government Depart-
ment of Public Works, aided by
army engineers proper; likewise by
200,000 workmen and 100,000 army
mules, hitched to 50,000 wagons.
The foregoing is the °Ilicial re-
cord of the exact extent of the con-
struction work on this front, carried
on steadily for 18 months despite
enemy artillery, avalanches, snow
falls, rains, floods, frost, lacic of ma-
terial, and all the othe • ills by
which engineers are beset.
Realism.
The Author—Well, how did you like
my play? Didn't you think the church
scene realistic?"
The Critic—Intensely so. Why, a
great many of us actually went to
sleep while it was on.
Financial.
Dee -allow dill you come out finan-
cially with yolu'•entertaimneet for the
Old Ladies' Home?
Che -The old ladies owe us $50,
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
lendable Paragraphs About a Little
of Everything,
Switzerland has 790,909 owe.
Oaxaca is pronounced Wah-ha-ea,
Balsa wood is the lightest of all
lumber,
Switzerland imposes a tariff on auto
imports,
Turkey has put bakeries under Gov-
ernment rule,
China will teach paper making in a
Government school,
The United States in 1915 produced
550,055 tons of lead. "
The United States coast guard in
1915 saved 1,507 lives.
Argentina has 628 waterworks sys-
tems, costing $123,000,000.
Australia boasts oldie tallest trees
grown on British soih
In Cuba tobacco is planted, grown
and gathered in ninety days,
Superior, Wis., for the first time tn`
sixty years is without saloons.
The United States yearly spends
$1,00,000;000 in building public
schools.
English colonies total 18,002,321!
square miles in area, with a popula-
tion of a30,0ss,035.
Telescopic spectacles have been in-,
vented for persons who are so ex-,
tremely nearsighted that ordinary'
lenges do not offset the defect.
Boats passing through the hydraulic
lift lock at Peterboro, Canada, are
lifted a total distance of sixty-five`
feet in one and one-half minutes..
One of the most beautiful of the
early lighthouses, and the first tower
in a sea -swept position, was Cor •
-
douan light, on the coast of France at
the entrance to the River Gironde. It
was built in 1611, and, although it has
been remodelled, some of the original
structure is still there, more than 200
feet bigh.
Salonica contains a large number of
Spanish-speaking inhabitants, not
very surprising, perhaps, in a mongrel
city of the Near East, but explained
by the fact that large numbers of
Spanish Jews, exiled some centuries
ago, took refuge there and carried
their language. Another part of the
World in which the Spanish Jew is
outstanding is the high plateau of
Columbia. Its inhabitants are a vigor-
ous people, noticeably of Semitic
stamp, and successful commercially.
The author of the "History of.,Bra-
zil" tells of a species of monkey call-
ed "preachers." Every morning and
evening these monkeys assemble in
the woods. One takes a higher posi-
tion than the rest and makes a signal
with his forepaw. At this signal the
others sit round him and listen. When
they are all seated he begins to utter
a series of sounds. When he stops
these cries he makes anothesignal
with his paw, and the others cry out
until he makes a third signal, on
which they become silent again. This
author, Mr. Margrove, asserts that he
was a witness to these preaehings.
The first attempt of government by
the people began in America was in
1619, when Sir George Yeardley was
sent from England as Governor of
the Jamestown colony. His charter
provided that he should call a few
chosen men, two from each of 'the
eleven boroughs that constituted the
colony. The meeting, which was
known as the assembly, was held at
the church, with the Governor and his
Council presiding. Those who came
from the boroughs were called bur-
gesses, and the assembly, which met
every year, was styled the House of
Burgesses. At this period this was
the only English colony in America.
INDUSTRIES LN TRENCHES
Making of Amateur Jewelry a Passion
With Soldiers. -
The monotony of life in the French,
as in the British, trenches is varied
by a number of small industries, turn-
ing to account bits of stone or wood
or enemy cartridge casea and spent
bullets in ingenious trifles for use or
for mementoes, says the Manehester
Guardian.
Quite the moat popular manufacture
is that of finger rings from the alu-
minum used In German shells—"les
bagues boches" they are called. These
are of many kinds, from roughly hol-
lowed out circlets to highly polished
rings decorated with delicately -shaped
fern leaves and hearts or inlaid with
pieces of polished French copper, on
the top of the German metal. The
French soldiere carry this passion
for making amateur jewelry into hos-
pitals. The British nurses at L'Ab-
baye Royaumont tell us that most of
their patients who can use their hands
are busy making "les bagues boches"
at every available moment after the
surgeon's morning visit. They all
have their little stores of German alu-
min im in their musettes of pockets
and many have brought with them a
complete outfit of files, vise, emery
paper and finger -blocks ctft from hits
of sticks. When the time comes for
the "sortants" to bid good-bye to corn -
'
rake and staff there is an interchange
of souvenirs. Then it is that "les
bagues boches" fulfill a pleasant des-
tiny of further strengthening the en-
tente cordials as gifts for the fingers
of British ward sisters and nurses.
Possible 'Values
A curious possible source of value
in uhconsidered waste is revealed by
h British chemist's thought that tee
baceo ash contains 90 per rent. of
potash. 11e estimates that the ash of
n elgnr contains 0.5 t=rains of pntashl
that"of a cigarette 1.75 grains, and
that of an ordinary pipe of tobacco
1.6 grains.
MICROBE PLOTTING
LAID TO GERMANS.
PLANS 'TO POISON RUMANIAN
CATTLE,
Bottles of Deadly Germs Foiled
Buried in Yard in
Bucharaest.
Henry Barby, Le Journal's (Paris)
special corerspondent in Rumania,
has 'written the most detailed account
received here of the discovery of
deadly microbes sent by Germany to
Bucharest to spread disease among
cattle, if not among the population.
IIo writes:
M. G. Corbesco, prefect of police at
Bucharest, has learned of the exist-
ence of certain mysterious packages
at the German Legation. Ile went
there on October 8, accompanied by
Mr. Andrews, the secretary of the
United States Legation, which is
charged with the protection of Ger-
man subjects in Rumania. They
found the watchman, Marcus, and a
servant, Maftei, left in charge of the
house after the staff had left. Both
men on being•questioned admitted the
existence of the cases and at M. Cor-
besco's request went into the garden
and began to dig by the wall on the
aisle of Cosma Street, between the
eighth and ninth trees.
They very soon reached the cases,
buried about half a yard deep. They
contained fifty glass tubes labelled
Bickford cord and fifty tin boxes.
These boxes were inscribed "Douarch
L, Kvallerie Spring Patrolmen,
sprengstof! A. 6. Carbonid Hamhourg
Schlebusch."
"Very Secret."
The prefect of police having asked
if any other cases were hidden, Mar-
cus went to theend of the court and
slug up a small wooden box covered
with paper and bearing the seal of the
Brasbov Consulate, with the follow-
ing inscription in French: "By courier,
very secret, to his Excellency, the
military attache of Bulgaria at Buch-
arest, Col. Samardjieff, for M. Kos -
toff."
Kostoff was known to the Rumani-
an police as a Bulgarian spy, but was
covered by being appointed attache to
the Bulgarian Legation. Under the
first envelope was a sedond, on which
was written in red pencil: "Very se-
cret. To his Excellency, Col. von
Hammerstein, military attache of
Germany."
Below was a sheet of paper with the
following directions in German :
"Herewith four bottles for horses and
four for cattle. To be employed as
agreed. Each bottle is sufficient for
200 head. If possible have, it absorb-
ed directly or else place it in the fod-
der. Please report results, and if
other instructions are needed, K's
(Kostoff's) presence would be desir-
able for a day."
Anthrax and Glanders.
The explosives, as analyzed by the
army's experts, allowed that they were
very powerful. The bottle of microbe
culture contained, according to the
first examinations, half microbes of
glanders and hall microbes of an-
thrax.
The two men were examined at the
United States Legation, at Mr. An-
drew's desire. They said the explo-
sives had been brought from the Ger-
man Consulate to the Legation, where
they were kept some days in the cel-
lar. The day before mobilization Mr.
Rheinbaden ordered Marcus to bury
them, whicb he did with the help of
Maftei and M. Kruger,' chancellor of
the Legation.
Aa for the microbe bottles, Marcus
said he did not Irnow what they con-
tained. He buried them on the order
of the assistant military attacbe„vho
placed them with his own hands in
the hole dug' by the watchman the,
latter having been called at the mo-
ment to help in packing up. Marcus
and Maftei were then kept under are
rest.
FOOD SHORT IN HOLLAND.
Flour and Necessaries Scarce—None
for Germany.
The Holland -American Line an-
nounce that about 75 per cent. of the
cargo holds of; their steamers have
been requisitioned by the Netherlands
Government to carry foodstuffs. Un
less goods offered for shipment on
these steamers aro accompanied by a
cabled permit from the Dutch Govern-
ment theycannot be received,
It is the opinion in shipping direles
that there is a serious food shortage
in Holland. All consignments to I•Iol-
land aro received by the Overseas
Trust, which posts a cash bond with
the British Government for every
shipment au a guarantee it will not
reach German hands,
There is s great nerd for flour and
various foodstuffs.
He Wali Short,
Early one evening a frail little girl
entered a cantly store and asked for
a cake of chocolate, After she had
the cantly she put fopr pennies on the
counter :and started ent,
The etorokoeper, Phaught averse to
frightening the little thing, called
after her, in a gentle voice:
"You're a peny short,”
""Ile, you're a penny ,short," she call.,
ed back as she disappeared.' '
HOME QN SIX
DAYS' LEAVE
PEN -PICTURE OF RETURNED
SOLDIER'S EMOTIONS,
The Wonderful Peace •`arid Joy of
Home After Two Years at
the Front.
Respite! Seven days' respite after
nearly two years in the unceasing
sound of guns, in the midst of Warl
IIe fingered the precious slip of pa -
pee cautiously, tenderly—read it over
and over again: "No. 20004, Pte. W.
Smith, has leave of absence—to pro-
ceed to England."
England! Blighty, he translated.
"W. Smith," himself. And, to -morrow
he would be speeding through France,
pacing the deck of the cross -Channel
steamer. To -morrow night he would
be home—home, after two years!
Home at Last.
Glad? He was excited; more ex-
cited—big, strong, hard soldier—than
ever he had been over the impending
school -treat of his boyhood. Only
twelve hours more, and then home for
six clays.
He placed the priceless pass in hie
breast-pocket—placed it next to the
photograph of his mother he carried
always. It seemed that his leave be-
longed to his mother.
It was no mere hope npw. Home
was real. He had been travelling
since the early morning. He had left
war and France behind. The fast
train to — that had only crawled,
the speedy Channel boat that to him
had mnved too sluggishly, the train
that had climbed at a snail's pace
from the home port to °the London
junction, and the slow wheels of the
West -country train, had at last
brought him to the scenes he knew.
And down the country road his feet
could not make pace enough. He was
eager—too eager—for sight of the
old cottage and all it held to be
voluble and conversational with the
old stationmaster, says London An-
swers.
" "Tis Bill!"
At last he turned down a narrow
lane. He caught the heavy scent of
the honeysuckle and the sweet fresh-
ness of the newly -mown hay. And
then the old house flashed into view.
Another hundred yards and he saw
the creepers that twisted and climbed
up the frontage, and used, he remem-
bered,
emembered, to burst into his window. His
eyes feasted on the smoke that curled
so 'contentedly about the quaint -look-
ing chimney -pot.
They would be at tea. Almost he
gave a whoop of joy. His goal, his
home—he had reached it. He hasten-
ed up to the door. He knocked gently.
Surely they would guess! He was
afraid`to surprise them. His mother,
his -father, his sister—they may not
have expected him 80 soon, perhaps.
A chair is pushed back; there are
quick steps to the door; it is pulled
open, and he stands on the threshold.
There is a pause.
"Mother, 'tis Bili!" his sister cries.
And then two thin arms are stretch-
ed up about his neck, and he is bend-
ing down to her. He feels the linger-
ing caress of his mother's lips as she
kisses him with her kiss of welcome.
The golden days have dawned and
waned swiftly. Six days of a won-
derful peace, of a quiet that had
stolen into his soul and had made him
even more enamored of the subtle fas-
cination of home. He liked to hear
the quick stop of his mother, he liked
to listen to his sister's singing as she
performed each household task.
Is It Worth It?
Ile looked through the window over
the broad fields, and thought how
good it would be to work; there once
again, But not yet.
To -morrow these things would be a
memory. And should he be fortunate
to come back—to come home—
"CGood-bye, mother!" he says. "I
shall come back again!"
There is that kiss that only those
who have felt it know the worth of
and he passes quickly through the
garden -gate. He is going to fare hor-
ror and tragedy, brutality and savag-
ery again,
For what? IIe knows the answer as
he looks back at the old thatched cot-
tage, with its green creepers tracing
over its walls, with the homely smok-
ing chimney, and, framed in the gate-
way, his dear old mother,
And he knows that she and home
are worth it all.
MULES BRAY EXTRACTED,
Operation on Nostril Cures ineoeverrl-
ent Habit,
The brayless mule it one of the
scientific developments of the wur,
Large numbers of• mules have Ivor
imported from A.merich for use at
the front, but their habit df braying
at inconvenient moments had to be
remedied before they (mule be used
to the best, advantage.
The veterinary experts were called
in, and after a little experiment they
discovered that a slight operation 00
the -nostril had the clrsirerl effect, anri
all the melee sent to the front au•e
now laude mute by this proems.
Queen Alexandra receives an an
m usty of 070,000,